Holy cow! Attention to the shoulders

[Dilettante]

I was shooting the other day and I wasn't doing well.
Suddenly I noticed that my shoulders were very tense and uncomfortable.
At some point I had started reaching forward while shooting, as though I wanted to grab something with my hands and it was just out of reach.
This pulled my shoulders forward into a very weak position.
So I pulled my shoulders back in, relaxed, and suddenly I could shoot straight again.

Are there any other things you should check for in overall body position? The business of reaching forward snuck up on me--I didn't notice it until it got too uncomfortable to keep up. But for some reason it seemed very natural to reach forward with the gun.

[Teufelhunden]

On which foot is your weight when you find yourself leaning foward?

I used to stand very upright when shooting, with my shoulders rolled back to the point where I was almost leaning backward a little. While comfortable, this position didn't exactly help with recoil control. I shifted my weight foward onto the balls of my feet, rolled my shoulders in, and leaned into the gun. I've found that this position has made a visible difference in my recoil control.

Perhaps this 'reaching foward' of yours is a trend in the right direction, and just needs to be tweaked.

Note also, my shooting technique is developed around practical shooting. Target shooting might be better served by a more upright posture. As always, YMMV.

-Teuf

[Correia]

Personally I don't believe that there is a perfect stance. Everybody is different. My stance that works for me probably would be awful on most other folks.

Just relax. Let your body relax. Don't get excited. Our bodies will take care of all of the little things if we just let them. Don't get tense about the shooting, just shoot.

[Standing Wolf]

Where's your head relative to your shoulders, chest, and trunk? If mine's not where it belongs, complete with chin up instead of down, my shots are off. I shoot bullseye-style (one-handed,) so keeping the chin up might not be appropriate if you shoot with both hands.

Posture can make all the difference in the world.